Parole denied for former music store owner convicted of child sexual assault | News, Sports, Jobs

WARREN — The former owner of Warren Music Center, who sexually assaulted numerous boys in 1992, has been denied parole by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.

Martin Petersime, who was sentenced by former Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay to 12-to-40 years after being convicted on 20 charges, including rape, pandering obscenity involving a minor, illegal use of a minor in nudity material, and corruption of a minor, has now served 31 years. He is currently incarcerated at Grafton Correctional Institution.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins opposed Petersime’s parole, stating that his release would pose an “undue risk to public safety,” particularly to young boys.

“The children of Ohio and elsewhere are safe with this chronic child sexual predator in prison,” Watkins said.

Watkins emphasized that Petersime had been clinically diagnosed as a pedophile during a sexual predator evaluation in the late 1990s.

The case facts reveal that Petersime provided drugs to children in exchange for sex, engaged in group sex with minors, and created pornographic films involving children and himself.

While Petersime was convicted for his crimes against five boys, Watkins suggested there were likely more victims. He highlighted an email from one victim, now an adult, who shared his enduring trauma and noted that he never had his day in court.

The email, quoted by Watkins, states: “A few years ago, my mom sent me a link with (Petersime’s) photo on an Ohio sexual list or parole hearing page, or something. I was deeply disturbed for a long time and started writing a letter to the parole board, which I never finished… I never had my day in court with this guy. I was just a boy. I didn’t realize at the time the profound effect that the incident would have on me — literally — for the rest of my life.”

The victim, who was 13 at the time, described how Petersime, then a music director in Mentor, exploited his love of music to groom him.

Watkins referred to Petersime as a “traveling pedophile” with prior convictions in Ohio. He was convicted in 1975 in Piqua and Cleveland for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and exhibiting materials harmful to a juvenile.

“This man’s profile shows him repeatedly using extreme and planned schemes to stalk, groom, and exploit child victims, with no regard for their safety, well-being, or future,” Watkins said. “His history of self-destructive conduct, immoral behavior, and hypocritical pretension as a music teacher is beyond belief. In our opinion, this man is lying in wait to get out of prison and then find his next child victim.”

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